Goshen, Greenwood Lake voters approve revised school budgets after revotes

Goshen and Greenwood Lake voters sent a clear message at the ballot box: the first budget was too much, but revised plans that narrowed the gap and sharpened priorities were acceptable. Both Orange County districts returned to residents with new numbers, and both won approval, preserving school spending plans that touch classroom offerings, staffing, extracurriculars and taxes.

In Goshen, the Central School District asked voters to reconsider a 2026-27 budget after residents rejected the original $101,050,451 proposal on May 19. The revised plan, presented June 1 and approved June 16 by a vote of 1,145 to 644, totaled $101,033,650 and carried a proposed tax levy increase of 2.8 percent. District leaders had steered money toward arts, music equipment and theater programs, a signal that the fight was not only about the bottom line but also about which student experiences the district intended to keep intact. If the revote had failed, Goshen would have faced a more restrictive contingency budget.

Greenwood Lake also won approval after revising its spending plan. The Greenwood Lake Union Free School District’s 2026-27 budget passed June 16 by 438 to 159, with a total of $32,042,475. The district said the revised budget reflected careful review and community feedback, and it estimated that an average home assessed at $30,000 would see a 4.25 percent tax increase, or about $220 a year. The result gave the district room to move ahead without another round of uncertainty over school finances.

The two Orange County votes fit into a broader regional pattern, where districts that returned to voters with trimmed or clarified proposals were able to turn rejection into approval. In Mount Vernon, officials cut $699,293 from the original plan and lowered the tax levy increase from 1.99 percent to 1.5 percent before voters narrowly approved the revised budget, 1,161 to 1,075. Eastchester also won approval after reducing spending to stay under the state tax cap of 2.35 percent.

For Goshen and Greenwood Lake, the revotes showed the same political reality in two different school systems: residents will back school budgets when the districts can show that the money is being tied to visible priorities and that the tax request stays within reach.